ABC’s local affiliate WNEP-TV in Pennsylvania is at the center of controversy after it aired [1] a graphic during a Sunday broadcast showing Kamala Harris winning Pennsylvania with 100% of precincts reporting, more than a week before the November 5 Election Day.
The incident, which occurred during coverage of the Formula 1 Mexico Grand Prix, displayed Harris as securing 52% of the vote over Donald Trump’s 47%, sparking a wave of conspiracy theories online about election integrity.
ABC accidentally aired election results of Harris winning PA by 5% with 100% in pic.twitter.com/VTJCjH92uh [2]
— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) October 30, 2024 [3]
The unexpected “results” caught viewers’ attention and led to accusations of election tampering. Social media users quickly weighed in, with one user posting on X, “The cheat is on! Stop the steal!”
The cheat is on!
Stop the steal!— One Bad Dude (@OneBadDude_) October 30, 2024 [4]
The station later addressed the incident, explaining that the graphic was part of a system test and did not represent real voting data.
In a statement to The Daily Mail, WNEP-TV clarified, “Those numbers should not have appeared on the screen, and it was an error by WNEP that they did.” The station elaborated that the graphic displayed “randomly generated” numbers, used to ensure the network’s systems are prepared for election night.
The station added, “The numbers were not reflective of any actual vote count. Pennsylvania law does not allow mail-in ballots to be taken out of their envelopes until 7:00 a.m. on Election Day, and no votes of any kind will be counted in Pennsylvania until after the polls close at 8:00 p.m.
WNEP regrets the error and apologizes for any confusion. We have taken steps to ensure that it does not happen again.”
🚨CAUGHT
A Pennsylvania news station WNEP-TV “accidentally” showed fake election results showcasing Harris won the swing state
pic.twitter.com/Focdy8HB6j [5]
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) October 30, 2024 [6]
With Trump currently leading by a slim margin of 0.7% in Pennsylvania, according to Real Clear Politics, showing 48.2% over Harris’s 47.5%, the state remains one of the tightest battlegrounds in the race. In the 2020 election, Joe Biden won Pennsylvania by a narrow margin of 80,555 votes, or 1.17%, capturing the state’s 20 electoral votes.
With Pennsylvania’s history of razor-thin margins, any misrepresentation of results has amplified skepticism among Trump supporters, who have circulated the WNEP footage with renewed scrutiny.
The incident has also added to criticism of Disney-owned ABC, which has faced accusations of bias throughout the election season.
The network, which aired the presidential debate on September 10, received backlash from conservative viewers who alleged that moderators David Muir and Linsey Davis showed favoritism toward Harris.
Critics argued that while Trump was subject to continuous fact-checks, Harris was not scrutinized as closely by the moderators.
Gutfeld on 🔥🔥🔥about debate.
pic.twitter.com/WDNBmcDEY8 [7]
— Juanita Broaddrick (@atensnut) September 11, 2024 [8]
Compounding ABC’s election season scrutiny, a whistleblower recently claimed that questions were shared with the Harris campaign ahead of the debate, fueling conservative criticisms of media bias.
BREAKING: ABC whistleblower allegedly will release an affidavit claiming the Harris campaign was given sample questions that were “essentially the same questions that were given during the debate,” as well as assurances that Trump would be “fact-checked” and she would not.
— Leading Report (@LeadingReport) September 12, 2024 [9]
I said the reason for how the moderators behaved in the ABC debate was simply because they were not going to let happen to Kamala Harris, what happened to Joe Biden and here she is admitting ithttps://t.co/8uwshNkQl7 [10] pic.twitter.com/x48TIQrz18 [11]
— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) September 12, 2024 [12]
Further, The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times have published profiles highlighting a close relationship between Harris and Dana Walden, a top Disney executive and rumored candidate for the company’s CEO role.
Walden’s association with Harris and political donations have led to questions about the media giant’s influence on the election.
While Walden has attempted to distance herself from ABC’s news division, her past political contributions and fundraising activities for Harris have fueled conservative concerns over impartiality.
The controversies have heightened ongoing discussions around media neutrality and its role in the electoral process, especially with Election Day approaching and stakes high in swing states like Pennsylvania.
With WNEP’s unintended broadcast stirring debates on election transparency and ABC facing scrutiny over alleged bias, conservative audiences are voicing renewed concerns over media influence and trustworthiness in the lead-up to November 5.
Maybe someone has already mentioned this, but the rambling answer Kamala Harris gave last night on inflation is not what @6abc [13] actually aired. Instead they edited her response so that it went straight to her “policies.” Compare/contrast the two clips below pic.twitter.com/WYAytYmx9i [14]
— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) September 14, 2024 [15]